On April 1, 2019, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois denied summary judgment in an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) case, determining that occasionally excusing employees from performing certain job functions does not render the function nonessential and finding that sharing tasks may be a reasonable accommodation.
On February 14, 2019, the Illinois legislature passed Senate Bill 0001 (SB0001), which amends the Illinois Minimum Wage Law and the Illinois Income Tax Act.
The Illinois Supreme Court issued its long-awaited ruling in Rosenbach and reversed the appellate court’s decision that technical violations of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (“BIPA” or “Act”) without “some actual injury or harm” are not actionable.
Overruling 35 years of precedent, the Illinois Supreme Court has held that buyers of newly constructed homes cannot sue subcontractors for breach of the implied warranty of habitability.
As we prepare to welcome 2019, Illinois employers must also prepare for new employment laws that afford greater rights and protections to employees.
In 2019, a number of states’ minimum wage rates will increase.
Effective January 1, 2019, the rights of Illinois employees serving in the military will be governed by the Illinois Service Member Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (ISERRA), Public Act 100-1101.
Recent amendments to the Illinois Human Rights Act (IHRA) broaden employee rights and impose new, immediate notice requirements on employers.
On October 18, 2018, the Illinois Supreme Court clarified when the statute of limitations begins to run on a claim for negligent procurement of insurance by an insurance agent or broker.
The Department of Justice has finally broken its long silence on website accessibility under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and the news is both good and bad.
The subcontractor’s sworn statement is one of most effective tools that contractors can use to ensure that lower-tier subcontractors and suppliers receive adequate payment throughout the job, yet many contractors either fail to appreciate how the sworn statement works or simply fail to utilize it, thereby increasing their risk of mechanics liens, bond claims, and double payments.
On August 26, 2018, Illinois amended the Wage Payment and Collection Act (IWPCA) to include the requirement that employers reimburse employees for all expenses within the scope of their employment that are “directly related to services performed for [their] employer[s].”
Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner vetoed Senate Bill 3052, commonly known as the retainage reform bill, on August 24, 2018.
On July 1, 2018, a number of states’ and localities’ minimum wage increases went into effect.
The basic requirements for proving a change order are firmly established under Illinois law. To obtain relief for a disputed change order, a contractor must show five things.
Several amendments to the Illinois Day and Temporary Labor Services Act will become effective June 1, 2018. Staffing agencies (also known as “suppliers”) and user employers (“users”) are finding that some of the law’s requirements are not lessons in clarity.
There are roughly 30,000 people with medical marijuana registry identification cards in Illinois, and marijuana dispensaries are becoming a more common sight. As the popularity of this treatment continues to grow, contractors are more likely to be faced with hiring and disciplinary decisions involving employees using marijuana.
In the recent case of Guzman v. Brown County, No. 16-3599 (March 7, 2018), the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a district court’s grant of summary judgment to an employer on claims brought under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
States such as Illinois, Maryland, and Oregon that have enacted laws requiring health insurers to cover certain male contraception on a first-dollar basis may be creating traps for unwary employers that sponsor high-deductible health plans.
For the first time since a 2012 decision by the Supreme Court of the United States, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals elaborated on and applied the Supreme Court’s four-factor analysis to determine whether a position is properly considered a ministerial roles. In its recent decision in Grussgott v. Milwaukee Jewish Day School, Inc., No. 17-2332 (February 13, 2018), the Seventh Circuit broke a 2-to-2 tie among the four factors and held that the circumstances in the case of a teacher at a Jewish school supported the conclusion that the teacher’s position was subject to the ministerial exception.
Illinois’s Responsible Job Creation Act, which will become effective June 1, 2018, amends the Day and Temporary Labor Services Act with the goal of strengthening staffing industry regulation.
Today’s employers must run their businesses within the competitive environment in which they operate while affording employees an ever-increasing array of leaves. Yet, running a business without a full complement of employees is difficult.
A recent amendment (Public Act 100-0100) to the Illinois Human Rights Act (IHRA) makes clear that employers in Illinois may have dress codes or grooming policies for the purposes of maintaining workplace safety or food sanitation.
The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has become the second federal court of appeals to weigh in on an important legal issue for employers in defending against expensive, increasingly common Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) class action lawsuits.
The City of Chicago has issued final rules for its Paid Sick Leave Ordinance. The Chicago Paid Sick Leave Ordinance was passed on June 22, 2016 and will take effect on July 1, 2017.
The Cook County Commission on Human Rights has issued its final regulations for the Cook County Earned Sick Leave Ordinance.
On April 10, 2017, the Cook County Commission on Human Rights posted draft regulations for the Cook County Earned Sick Leave Ordinance. The Cook County ordinance was passed on October 5, 2016, and will take effect on July 1, 2017. The commission expects to adopt and publish final rules, a model posting, and required notices by June 1, 2017.
On April 4, 2017, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued its highly anticipated en banc decision in Hively v. Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana, making the Seventh Circuit the first federal appellate court to find that sexual orientation is encompassed in Title VII of the Civil Right Act of 1964’s definition of sex.
Recently, Illinois revised its wage assignment law. This development is important for multistate employers because Illinois is the only state with a statute that clearly and unequivocally provides that employers must honor contracts employees make with third parties to assign wages.
Effective January 1, 2017, 29 states plus the District of Columbia will have minimum wage rates that are above the federal minimum wage rate of $7.25 per hour. The District of Columbia will continue to have, as it did last year, one of the highest minimum wage rates in the country at $11.50 per hour until July 1, 2017, and $12.50 per hour after that date. With respect to state minimum wages, Massachusetts and Washington will have the highest minimum wages at $11.00 per hour effective January 1, 2017, with California close behind at $10.50 per hour (for employers with 26 or more employees), effective January 1, 2017, and Connecticut following at $10.10 per hour, effective January 1, 2017.
